


Akatsuki   ~The New Dawn~

by eeveelutionlover2000



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bodyguard, Gen, Oneshot, inspired by Seirei no Moribito
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-22 23:10:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21310162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eeveelutionlover2000/pseuds/eeveelutionlover2000
Summary: Yong-Seung was the first prince of Kouka. Emphasis on was. Now he is a refugee from his own country, guarded only by a single woman, Ji-Yeong. And that was only the start of his adventure.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Akatsuki   ~The New Dawn~

Akatsuki  
~The New Dawn~

Wind whistled through the canyon. The gorge was filled with mist, rock pillars peaking through the swirling veil. She stood before me, the stance of a warrior, the demeanor of a great feline, fierce pride and self assuredness. She wore confidence in a way that came only through experience, and the revelation of self knowledge.

It reassured me, this bastion of stability, while at the same time made me feel small, insignificant, unworthy to face her with my ignorant self.

“Stand before me, Yong-Seung! Stand before me, tall and proud. Stand before me, Yong-Seung, first prince of Kouka!”

Her words vibrated through the still air. Her figure, silhouetted by the first rays of the breaking dawn, carried the strength of generations of warriors. My mouth felt dry, words trying to form, yet failing. The sun's ray flashed along the blade of her spear, blinding me for a moment.

“But… But… I can not.” My voice broke. “I am no longer a prince, but merely a boy. An insignificant boy. A naive, ignorant, inexperienced, unknowing, idiotic, selfish, pampered, immature…!

I blinked harshly, trying to clear the blurriness from my grey eyes.

“Stand Yong-Seung,” she murmured. “I took you in, to guide you, and to guard you. When we left the castle, that was no longer your home. When we passed through the forests, where wild beasts roam. When we met creatures of myth, fought through battles, leapt through a burning forest... These are all trials you have faced. Even now, when our pursuers are closing in after our trail, you are in a trial.”

“What… What is my trial? … Wait, they are still pursuing us! I had believed we lost them at Suikyuu City!”

I was startled by a loud sound. Ji-Yeong had her mouth open, large barks of laughter resounding out. I had no idea what made her laugh, especially as grand as this. Was it what I said? But I did not say anything unusual, right?

I fiddled with the sleeves that covered my hands. Ji-Yeong’s laughs had died down. She gazed at me, as if seeing something she did not expect, something new. Her normally unfazed expression was adorned with a small smile, warm, yet with some unidentifiable emotion. 

“Do not worry. They are unimportant for now. Even if they are very close. Now is the time for your trial.”

She hit the butt of her spear to the rock ground. Her ponytail whipped around, the wind playing with her brown hair. 

“THIS TRIAL IS FOR YONG-SEUNG, SON OF BYEONG-HO, SON OF YEONG-GI!”

Her voice boomed across the rock faces, echoing and rebounding, before fading into the mist. She then took one step back, staring straight at me.

“Come.”

And then fell into the ravine.

“JI-YEONG!!”

I scrabbled to the edge, trying to find her among the phantasmal clouds. The shifting white mass concealed anything that lay in the ravine. I could see nothing, but the constant moving of the mist. Desperately, I turned my head back and forth, trying to find any glance, any glimpse of my mentor. I took no notice of how the rocks dirtied my clothes, nor how they cut my hands. Something as trivial as that no longer mattered to me. Nor did I take any notice of the growing clamour behind me, focused only on the bottom of the chasm.

As I peered through the mist, I noticed something. Amidst the background noise of the winds howling through the canyons, there was something different. Something more like, more like a whistling sound. Just as I noticed that something burst out of the cloud cover.

A great beast flew. The sun’s rays - had only a small amount of time past? It seemed as if it had been hours - dazzled my eyes. The coat of the creature flamed a brilliant gold as it catched and scattered the morning sun’s rays. Great wings flared a halo around its head, gleaming bronze and copper. Large paws churned through the air, wicked talons cutting through the same. It soared, with a great mane of feathers and fur, unadorned, undirtied. And on its back sat Ji-Yeong.

I could not stop the tears of relief from streaming down my eyes.

“I thought… I thought...:”

She stayed sitting on the magnificent gryphon. The beast hovered, the steady beating of wings calming my racing heart. She glanced toward the distance before focusing her gaze upon myself.

“Come Yong-Seung,” she said, her voice level. “We have already started. Be it to learn courage, or to find confidence. To stain your hands, or to abstain. To be able to accept, to learn, to ignore, for patience, to follow one path. Or maybe all I have mentioned, yet none at all. You must choose..”

Her words were interrupted when she shifted her head to the side. Confused, I studied her, wondering what made her stop before registering a whistling noise. A streak of silver flashed where her head was before. I jumped up from where I was kneeling, startled, and concerned for her safety. For had she not moved, she surely would have ended up dead, an arrow embedded into her forehead.

“It seems that we cannot stay long here,” Ji-Yeong murmured. She reached out one tanned hand, an invitation of security, and upholded promises. “Let us leave.”

I looked once behind my back, my eyes spotting the dull gleam of metal, my ears, the thumps of footsteps, and the hoofbeats of equines. I took a few steps back before running, leaping into the air. I stayed, stranded among the heavens, time slowing down, before being caught by Ji-Yeong, my pale body encased by tan arms.

Immediately, the noble beast, with a great flapping of wings, flew into the sky. The gryphon then dived, corkscrewing towards the bow-laden group. In a few moments, the feline had reached the party. Then, flaring its wings, the beast created a large gale that buffeted the troop, knocking them and the few arrows already flying, down. 

“Ji-Yeong…” I breathed out, hugging her tighter. “Thank you for not killing my people.”

“You had decided. Whether it is a good thing, or an action that will harm us later, you had chose.”

“That may be, but still, they are my people.”

“What have you chosen now, Yong-Seung. To leave, or to stay. To work yourself, or to be separated. The west, to the palace. Or the east, to the people.”

“The east, Ji-Yeong, the east. I still have much more to know. They are my people, and I must help them. It does not matter if they do not know. It is my duty, and it is my decision.”

“As the king wishes.”

The two rose into the sky. The phantasmal beast, with its two riders. With twin moons at its back, the noble beast flew towards the east, towards the rising sun, the promise of a new era.

**Author's Note:**

> Yong-Seung: 龍勝 龍/dragon + 勝/"victory/excel", korean hanja  
Ji-Yeong: 智/"wisdom, intellect" or 知/"know, perceive, comprehend" + 英/"flower, petal, brave, hero" or 榮/"glory, honour, flourish, prosper", korean hanja  
Byeong-Ho: byeong-ho 炳/"bright, luminous, glorious" + 浩/ "great, numerous, vast" or 昊/"summer, sky, heaven", korean hanja  
Yeong-Gi: 榮起 榮/"glory, honour, flourish, prosper" + 起/"rise, stand up, begin", korean hanja  
Kouka: 紅華 紅/"crimson" + 華/"brilliance, luminance, radient" japanese  
Suikyuu: 水宮 水/"water" + 宮/"palace, temple", japanese
> 
> And that's that! A simple oneshot. Inspired mainly by "Seirei no Moribito", mostly in the situation. Unlikely to be expanded on, unless someone wants more. If you want to read more, give me some ideas, okay? I don't really have one for any sequels.


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